The brief and fragile alliance on the rooftop did not immediately translate into swift action.
The seeds of doubt had long been sown, and the foundation of cooperation was as thin as a cicada's wing.
Hashimoto Masayoshi returned to Class A, his face under his blond hair still wearing that nonchalant smile.
The so-called "alliance" was more of a convenient expedient for him, going with the flow.
He was the only one who could observe and actively test Sakamoto up close.
After all, he was Sakamoto's classmate.
The initiative for how to interpret the final "investigation results" naturally rested in his hands.
He was not in a hurry to act, instead, he carried a sense of anticipation.
He wanted to see how Sakamoto would react to this quietly approaching framing.
He even thought maliciously that by not alerting Sakamoto for now, he might see more interesting reactions.
And at this moment, Sakamoto continued his usual routine of attending classes, reading, and occasionally practicing his perplexing "secret techniques," as if completely unaware that he had become the target of a certain conspiracy—at least, that's how Hashimoto saw it.
Kanzaki Ryuji of Class C maintained his usual caution.
He was reserved about Hashimoto's goodwill, but his vigilance towards Ryuuen Kakeru was at the highest level.
More than the vague second year conspiracy, he worried that Ryuuen would use this opportunity to stir up trouble and direct the blame towards Class C.
His primary task remained to stabilize Class C and deal with the immediate academic challenges.
Joint investigation? Yes, but only under the premise of ensuring his own safety.
As for Ryuuen Kakeru, he was perhaps the most "serious" of the three.
He had at least set two clear goals for himself: First, to verify the authenticity of the test paper in his hand.
If it truly was a past exam and the school indeed had a habit of reusing questions, then this "poisoned bait" might also be turned into something valuable.
Of course, the premise was that it could provide an exclusive advantage, rather than being almost universally available as it was now.
His second goal was to find the mastermind.
This was not to help Sakamoto out of a predicament, but out of an extremely displeased feeling—that someone dared to get ahead of him and use such underhanded methods against his chosen opponent?
Sakamoto could only be crushed by Ryuuen Kakeru himself; he would not tolerate others overstepping and interfering.
However, all the covert planning was temporarily put on hold by a more urgent matter—an important quiz was approaching for each class.
The results of the quiz would be announced later.
Class A's performance remained stable and brilliant, with overall scores far ahead.
Sakamoto, without suspense, once again achieved full marks in all subjects, his very existence like an insurmountable peak, silently motivating his other classmates.
Hashimoto looked at Sakamoto's dazzling full marks on the report card and then glanced at the person in question, who looked as calm as if it were only natural.
It seemed he was completely unaware of the conspiracy targeting him.
Class B's results showed a significant overall improvement.
Although the top scores couldn't compare to the monsters in Class A, both the average score and the median were significantly higher, and the failure rate drastically decreased.
This was undoubtedly the initial manifestation of Ryuuen's forced implementation of study groups and supervision.
Looking at the report card, Ryuuen snorted, finally showing a hint of satisfaction on his face, proving that his direction was correct; authoritarian rule combined with interest-based guidance could indeed effectively drive this group of useless people.
Even Class D made some small progress.
Especially the "idiot trio" of Yamauchi, Ike, and Sudo, whose scores, although still hovering around the passing line, were a "leap" compared to their previous abysmal results.
"That's great! The study session really worked!" Ike Kanji said, looking at his score, a rare excited expression on his face, even though his score was still not high.
"It's all thanks to Kushida-san! Her explanations are much easier to understand than Horikita's!" Ike's gaze drifted towards Kushida Kikyo, who was chatting and laughing with other girls nearby.
Yamauchi Haruki didn't say anything, but seeing that his grade was finally not at the bottom, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Horikita Suzune looked at the trio's grades, her heart a mix of emotions.
Her strategy of "persistent nagging" and "using Kushida" seemed to have worked,
but the effect seemed more like a credit to Kushida's personal charm than to her own efforts.
A faint sense of powerlessness and subtle jealousy lingered within her.
However, this relaxed atmosphere, brought about by the progress in the pop quiz,
was soon completely shattered by the news announced by the homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.
Chabashira Sae stood on the podium,
still with that indifferent expression,
and wrote the four big characters "First Year Midterm Exam" heavily on the blackboard with chalk.
"The pop quiz was just an appetizer."
Her voice was cold and emotionless,
"The upcoming First Year Midterm Exam is the real focus. I mentioned it before, do you remember?"
She paused intentionally, her gaze sweeping over every face below,
especially those students whose grades were hovering at the bottom.
"Any student who fails any subject in the First Year Midterm Exam, regardless of their class points or individual points, will be subject to mandatory expulsion."
"Whoosh!"
The classroom instantly erupted.
"Ex-expulsion?!"
"One failed subject means expulsion?"
"These rules are too harsh!"
Yamauchi, Ike, and Sudo's smiles instantly froze,
replaced by pallor and terror.
They had just been celebrating barely passing, and in the blink of an eye, they were facing such a terrifying punishment.
Expulsion.
The deterrence brought by this word far exceeded the previous class points reset to zero.
Although their homeroom teacher had mentioned it at the beginning of the month,
they hadn't expected it to come so quickly.
Horikita's gaze subconsciously fell on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka beside her,
but she saw him expressionless, as if he had already anticipated it.
And in the next second, a thought flashed through Horikita Suzune's mind like lightning—
the test paper.
That test paper, sold by a Second-Year Senior Student, claimed to be from Sakamoto, cost her ten thousand individual points, and its content was suspected to be last year's First Year Midterm Exam questions.
Originally, due to her suspicion of Sakamoto's motives and a sense of humiliation, she had temporarily put it aside,
even somewhat rejecting it,
but under the immense pressure of "expulsion" at this moment,
its value and significance suddenly underwent a drastic change.
If... if that test paper was real... it would no longer be "charity" or a "conspiracy," but possibly a lifeline.
Chabashira Sae ignored the commotion and panic below, and coldly added:
"So, study hard. Don't rely on luck anymore."
In the D-Class classroom,
students with poorer grades started complaining again.
But Horikita Suzune's hand involuntarily clenched.
No matter what,
she had to prevent any expulsions from D-Class and even strive for better grades.